Bob Apollo
Bob Apollo
Bob Apollo is the CEO of UK-based Inflexion-Point Strategy Partners, the B2B sales performance improvement specialists. Following a varied corporate career, Bob now works with a rapidly expanding client base of B2B-focused growth-phase technology companies, helping them to implement systematic sales processes that drive predictable revenue growth.
12 Inspiring Insights on B2B Sales and Marketing from 2010
During the past year I've benefited from the insights of people and organisations that have made telling contributions to raising the standard of B2B...
3 Revenue-Driving New Year Resolutions
It's the time of year when we all get showered with recommendations for New Year Resolutions, and as if you haven't already got enough...
Why Bigger Pipelines Aren’t Always Better
In a recent webcast, Sirius Decisions shared some preliminary results from their 2010 Sales Pipeline and Forecast Survey - a study conducted jointly with...
McKinsey Survey Shows Web 2.0 Related to Market Share Gains
Is Web 2.0 simply a passing fad or an enduring trend? We no longer have to rely on the evangelists' opinion. A recent...
Why it’s Time to Explore the BuyerSphere…
Which people, and which organisations, are most influential in shaping your prospect's thinking? Who do they turn to for advice when they recognise...
Making the Case for Appointing a Chief Revenue Officer
I'm a great admirer of the work that Marketo has been doing to provide tools that transform the way sales and marketing teams work...
A Fresh Perspective on Aligning the B2B Buying and Selling Processes
If there's one piece of advice that I would offer to any B2B organisation wanting to improve their sales performance it would be to...
You Can’t Bore Your Customers Into Buying!
I was re-reading Neil Rackham's SPIN Selling the other day - a recommended activity for anyone involved in B2B selling - and I was...
Why Can’t You Uncover More Qualified Sales Opportunities?
I've just reviewed the results of a recent LinkedIn poll in which I asked the audience to identify the initiative that had the greatest...
B2B Collaboration: Salesforce’s Chatter rises to a Crescendo…
I've written before about the potential of Salesforce.com's recently-launched Chatter application to drive intracompany collaboration. Now the latest news from Salesforce, suggests that Chatter...
The 4 dimensions of an ideal B2B customer…
What does your ideal customer or prospect look like? The question is an important one, because too many sales pipelines are still full of...
Only 3 things matter when qualifying a sales opportunity…
There are few things more impressive than a consistently successful sales person. Over the years, I’ve sought to identify the characteristics that differentiate these...
7 reasons why most B2B CRM systems get forecasting badly wrong…
How accurate are your sales forecasts? According to the latest research from CSO Insights, less than 50% of deals close as originally forecasted. A significant...
7 Key Initiatives to Drive Sales and Marketing Alignment in 2011…
Sales and marketing alignment is increasingly recognised as a critical contributor to sustained business success. According to recent research published by the Aberdeen Group, despite...
Social Media without Thought Leadership is like broadcasting into space
I attended SirusDecisions’ excellent inaugural European summit in London yesterday. It was packed with essential information and insight for anyone concerned with improving their...
Are You Equipping Your Salespeople to have Remarkable Conversations?
I must have conducted hundreds of voice of the customer surveys on behalf of clients over the past few years. Speaking with their recent...
Aberdeen proves that Sales and Marketing Alignment pays off…
The Aberdeen Group have just published a must-read report entitled “Sales and Marketing Alignment Collaboration + Cooperation = Peak Performance”. The report is available...
Chance Favours the Connected Mind…
Take a few minutes out to review this video by Steven Johnson, author of "Where Good Ideas Come From". He debunks the thought that...
B2B Marketing: From Thought Leadership to Trusted Advisorship…
Most B2B Marketing Plans make some reference to establishing "thought leadership". It may surprise you to learn that the term seems to be...
B2B Sales: Avoiding Finishing Second
If your organisation is involved in long, complex and resource-intensive sales cycles, there are few things more frustrating than finishing second to a competitor...